Living In Lies | #OnceUponNow

Chapter 7: High School

BEEP,BEEP,BEEP!

My alarm went off.  Ugh... I never realized how hard waking up was until now.

A week had passed since I came to live with Hannah and Joshua. During that week they had convinced me to ditch the online school and go to the High School just down the street. Today was my first day.

I rolled over and turned off my alarm, then got out of bed.

Hannah had taken me shopping for some new clothes during the week. I walked over to my closet, pulled out a blue t-shirt and jeans, and got ready. I went to my bathroom and brushed my hair and my teeth. I grabbed the purple backpack I was using for school and headed to the kitchen.

Hannah was already there. "Hey, ready for your first day at a real school?" she said.

"Yup," I said, walking to the pantry. I grabbed a brownie and turned around. Hannah chuckled. "What?" I said, my mouth full of brownie.

"Nothing," she said, still smiling, "Let's go I don't want you to be late."

We got in the car and drove not too far down the street to a fairly large building with a petite sign reading "Jefferson Memorial High School." The car stops and I climb out.

"Okay, have fun today. I'll be back to pick you up later," Hannah said.

"Thanks, see you then," I said. She drove away and I walked in through the double doors.

I saw a door marked 'office' and went through it. I got my class schedule and locker combination and went to find the sophomore lockers. I found locker 112 and entered my combo: twelve, twenty-five, twenty-two. It clicked open. I hung up my backpack on the hook, grabbed my binder out of it, and headed to room thirteen, Calculus with Mrs. Briel.

I was about to head inside when a girl with shoulder length brown hair called out to me.

"Hey," she said, "You're the new student right?"

"Um, yeah," I answered, letting my shy side show,"I'm Alice."

"I'm Callie, I've been assigned to show you around today."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. There's just enough time to introduce you to my friends before the bell rings," Callie said. She opened the door and we walked inside.

As we walked in, almost the entire class turned their heads toward me. I guess they don't get new students often. After a bit, everyone went back to doing what they were doing before.

A couple of girls were sitting in the corner of the room, and Callie and I walked up to them.

"Guys," Callie addressed the group, "This is the new student, Alice." She now addressed me, "These are my best friends, Chelsie Vanderson," she pointed to a girl with brown hair and nice clothes, "And Melody Fawster," a girl with long brown hair. She looked familiar, and I recognized the name, but I wasn't sure where I had seen her before.

Four more girls walked over to us.

One girl with long, blue dyed hair and overalls introduced herself as Elizabeth Sierra, and the girl next to her, who I assumed to be her best friend, was named Heather Robinson and had brown hair in a bun and a bow tie.

The two other girls were not too much different than Heather and Elizabeth. Their names were Elaina Leal and Symphony Lawrence. Elaina had black hair and a "The Nightmare Before Christmas" shirt while Symphony had a dirty blonde and red ombré.

Two others came to us next. A girl named Jhanae who seemed to be a sporty girl and Lillian, a girl who had light brown hair.

I looked around the room. There were a lot of students. Most of the boys were in the opposite corner from where my new friends and I sat, grouping around what looked like the popular guys like most males do. Although there were a couple stragglers who were sitting in the remaining corner across from the door. One kid, who looked like one of the outcasts, was left in a desk by the door. As my eyes came to where he sat, I caught him looking at me. Instead of looking away, like most would do, he smiled at me. He was kind of cute.

Then the bell rang and everyone took their seats. I sat in the back between Melody and Callie. The teacher came in and called role. The boy's name was Blake. The only other people I thought I'd remember were two boys, both named Michael, one with red hair and one with brown, almost black. Surprisingly, they're related. Fraternal twins actually. Well I know where their lives are headed.